Chapter Title: Flow Charts Are Never Wrong
Author: slacker_d
Pairing/Characters: Rachel/Santana, slight Brittany/Santana, brief appearances by Puck, Finn & Quinn, mentions of Puck/Santana and Rachel/Finn
Rating: PG-13
Summary: How Rachel and Santana began dating
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Word Count: ~2,400
Spoilers: implied spoilers for 2x01

The first day of summer is awesome. Two months of freedom from Coach Sylvester and three months away from the hellhole that is McKinley.

Santana spends the day doing nothing, just her and Brittany. It's mostly just sex and lounging, but it's the perfect start to the summer.

That night, Puck, of course, has a party. It's a haze of alcohol, music, dancing and Britt. She wakes up naked, tangled up with Brittany, and no memories of how they arrived in the blonde's bedroom.

The next two weeks are more of the same. Spending the day with Brittany and partying at night is the best way to spend a summer in Santana's mind.

Then one day Brittany is nowhere to be found and she's not answering her cell. Santana shrugs and figures Brittany is on vacation with her family and forgot to tell her again.

Except now, Santana doesn't know what to do with herself. She ends up hanging with Puck because he's usually the most entertaining. But that only lasts a week because Santana can only take so many hours of watching Puck and Finn play video games.

She tries Quinn, but Juno spends her time either working out or brooding and it's totally ruining her summer vacation buzz. She only lasts three days at the Fabrays'.

She's thankful when Friday rolls around and she can drink to distraction again.

It's still a haze of alcohol, music and dancing, except this time her partner isn't her blonde best friend.

For the fifth Saturday in a row, Santana wakes up hung over in a bed that is not her own. However, like the previous four, three at Britt's and one at Puck's, Santana's not quite sure where she is.

She just hopes it's not Finnocence's. She can't take any more of his drama. Or worse, Fabray. Santana is positive she doesn't want to deal with the gay panic.

Except when she brushes the long dark hair away from her bedmate's face, she sees one Rachel Berry. Which is a whole different sort of drama, or at least that's what Santana expects. A feeling of dread rising, Santana quickly finds her clothes and heads to the bathroom.

However, Berry is dressed and downstairs by the time Santana exits the bathroom. Nonetheless, she tip toes down the stairs, hoping to sneak out.

"You want some coffee?" Berry calls from the kitchen.

She does, so she decides to just face the music and get it over with.

Berry is dressed in sweats and a t-shirt. She sets a cup of coffee in front of Santana.

"Black, right?"

Santana nods and waits for the speech to begin. Instead, Berry sits with a cup of her own and grabs an orange from the fruit bowl on the table. She gestures to Santana to help herself.

Santana spends a few moments watching Berry peel the orange, before the diva speaks.

"I'm going to ask that we keep this between us. Which I'm sure you will. I'm not the sort of conquest a person like yourself brags again. Nonetheless, I'd rather Finn not find out. We're already in a somewhat awkward moment in our relationship and I don't believe this will help, despite the fact that this is the second weekend he's ditched me at Noah's party."

Santana gives an internal sigh of relief. Away from school, Berry is less melodramatic, it seems.

"Not a problem, Berry," Santana replies. "Thanks for the coffee."

"You want a ride?" Berry asks quietly.

"It's not a big deal."

"I promise I won't sing."

"Fine. Whatever."

Berry puts both cups in the sink and runs upstairs. She's back a minute later, fully dressed and Santana does a slight double take, mildly impressed with the speed. She follows Berry into the garage and gets into the passenger seat of the car.

Berry keeps her promise and simply turns the radio on. It's set to NPR which also surprises Santana. But Berry quickly changes it to an oldies station.

When Berry pulls into the Lopez driveway, Santana suddenly feels a bit awkward.

"Well, thanks for the ride."

"Listen," Berry says. "I know we're not friends or anything, but if you ever want to stop by and hang out, feel free."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because apparently Brittany's on vacation while Puck and Finn are obsessed with their stupid video games."

"I'll think about it."

Santana climbs out of the car and slams the door shut. She lets herself into the house and glances out the window. Berry is staring back; she gives a half wave and reverses out of the driveway.

…

Santana tries fighting it, but she's back at Berry's on Tuesday. They watch a movie and then Santana flips through the channels while Berry does some chores. She sings quietly to herself as she does so and Santana finds she doesn't mind like she thought she would. In fact, despite fighting it, Santana finds herself returning daily. It's mostly just watching something, though Berry does try to engage her in other activities, but Santana always refuses. She appreciates the offer even if she'll never say so. But what she really appreciates is that Berry never pushes. The bulldozer Santana's used to seeing is put away for the summer.

Berry still has voice lessons and dance classes, but they're usually in the morning and Santana never manages to drag herself out of bed until noon. So by the time Santana is dropping by, Berry has already been up for hours and simply lets her in.

When Santana asks why Finn is never around, Berry explains that all he wants to do is play video games with Puck. They usually go out in the evening and come back to Berry's after.

"That's unexpected on your part, Berry," Santana tells her.

"Yes, well, I'm trying to be a bit more relaxed about things."

"How's that going?"

"About as well as you'd expect," Berry replies.

…

Santana isn't sure exactly how it happens, but the continued exposure to Rachel Berry somehow merges into friendship. She can think about going over to Berry's and not feel dirty or guilty. In her own home, Berry is a bit saner and doesn't annoy Santana nearly as much as she used to. It's refreshing.

Santana can't pinpoint the date, but eventually she stops thinking of her as Berry and instead thinks of her as Rachel. And when she realizes this, it's not as terrible as she once imagined it might be.

In fact, she kind of likes it.

…

It's the beginning of August and the last week before the Sue Sylvester Boot Camp starts up again, so Santana has every intention of making it the best week ever. Puck's agreed to have a huge blow out on Friday to commiserate the occasion and Rachel promised they'd have a good time during the day.

However, when she shows up at the Berry residence, Rachel doesn't greet her. Even if she's not on the first floor, Santana will always announce her presence and receive a hello in response. Today, nothing.

Santana heads up to Rachel's room to investigate. She finds her still curled up in bed, covers over her head.

"Jeez, Berry," Santana says, seeing this. "Did Streisand's cat die or something?"

"Barbra Streisand doesn't have a cat," Rachel replies. "Finn broke up with me."

"Ah, crap," Santana says. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

Rachel scoots over and makes room for Santana on the bed. Looking over, it's obvious she's been crying, but Santana's thrown off because she doesn't soundlike she's been crying.

"I think I got all my crying out last night," Rachel says, as if she knows what Santana is thinking.

"Well that's good."

"I've decided this is the last time I'm letting Finn Hudson into my life in a romantic capacity. I'm not sure I can handle being dumped again."

"You've given him more chances than I ever would've."

"Yes, I've come to a similar conclusion. Especially since he failed to mention that Iwas not the one to take his virginity. You were."

"Yeah…I'm sorry about that Berry."

"It's fine, Santana," Rachel replies. "He and I weren't together at the time. The only thing I'm upset about is the deceit. After all, I told him that I didn't give myself to Jesse. I feel that would have been an excellent time to share information about his virginity or lack there of."

"How long have you known?"

"Since the night you and I, uh, had sexual relations. It's why I was drunk."

"He told you?" Santana is flabbergasted.

"No. Of course not. Kurt let it slip."

"How did he know?"

"Brittany told him."

"Ber-Rachel, I'm sorry. I really am."

"It's fine, Santana, really," Rachel assures her. "I think the reason it hurt so much was that we'd just made love for the first time the night before. If he had simply told me… but after that I couldn't completely trust him anymore and I didn't feel comfortable having sex again. Between that and my newly created trust issues, the relationship didn't stand a chance."

"Well it still sucks."

"That it does."

…

Friday night, Santana has no issues being friends with Rachel and having other people know about it. She especially wants Hudson to know for reasons she can't quite fathom yet.

They both drink, though Rachel has considerably less than Santana. But for the first time all week, it's obvious that Rachel's in a good mood. Santana's glad, even if it's only under the influence of alcohol.

They get a ride home from the DD, Quinn "no fun" Fabray. At least that's the nickname they give her once they're both dropped off at Rachel's.

"Did you see her expression?" Santana laughs loudly.

"She really doesn't like me, does she?"

"She's just jealous," Santana assures her. "Usually if B's not around it's me and Q, but you, she never thought she'd be losing me to you. You know?"

Rachel nods so furiously that Santana's afraid she's going to hurt herself.

They settle on the couch with water bottles and Triscuits because Rachel swears it helps with hangovers. Santana doesn't care. She's having a good time.

…

Santana wakes up naked in Rachel Berry's bed. Again.

She knowsthis the minute she opens her eyes. But just to be sure, she lifts the blanket and looks. Yep, they're both naked.

And cuddling. Not only did Santana have sex with Rachel again, they're also apparently spooning.

This has been a very odd summer.

"You can say that again," Rachel groans.

Shit, did she say that out loud?

"This is becoming a regular occurrence, Ms. Lopez," Rachel says.

Rachel sits up and reaches on the floor for clothing. She tosses Santana her shirt as she pulls on her own. So even though their lower halves are bare, they can at least present the illusion otherwise.

Neither says anything, though.

Finally after five minutes of silence, Rachel slides out of bed and pulls her jeans back on. "I'm going to make some coffee."

Santana nods and gets dressed as well, following Rachel to the kitchen.

Just as before, they sit at the kitchen table drinking coffee as Rachel eats fruit. Only this time, Santana's worried about losing a friend more than anything else.

When Rachel's finished with her fruit, a banana this time, she finishes her coffee and looks Santana straight in the eye.

"I think we should date."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Why?"

"Need I remind you of the state we found ourselves in a mere ten minutes ago?"

"Sex isn't dating, Rachel," Santana says.

"It is to me," Rachel insists. "Besides, I've been thinking about it all week-"

"You have?"

"-and according to the flow chart, graph and outline I made, it makes perfect sense."

"Wait a minute," Santana says. "You made a flow chart, a graph and an outline? When? We've spend pretty much the whole week together."

"Need I remind you that you never show up before noon?"

"Oh. Yeah."

"Can we please just try it?" Rachel asks. "For the rest of the summer. And if it doesn't work out, so be it. We stop when school begins again."

Santana considers it. She does likeRachel. And the vague drunken memories she has, tell her the sex was awesome. A trial run couldn't hurt. Especially since it seems if it doesn't work out, they might be able to still be friends.

"You've got a deal."

…

They spend the rest of the day having sex sober. It's even better than the hazy memories imply. Santana's not sure if it's because she remembers or what. But as she lays there basking in the glow of her fifth orgasm of the day, she notices the sun is setting.

"Damn," Santana says. "We wasted a whole day."

"I wouldn't necessarily call it a waste," Rachel replies. "An orgasm is never a waste of time."

Santana smirks. She didn't think it was possible, but relaxed Rachel is more candid and open. She likes it. It's as if they can talk about anything and everything.

"We should make this a ritual," Rachel says.

"What?"

"Saturdays. You and me. No one else, if we can help it. Cheerios practice starts up again and we'll definitely be seeing less of each other. So if we have at least one day that's ours, maybe this'll work out."

"Yeah?"

"Santana, the one thing I've learned from my doomed romances of the past is that I some might consider me to be a bit controlling."

Santana fights back a snort.

"And I'm also not unaware of your attitudes about these things. My hope is that we can reach a compromise of sorts. Especially because I know that if we continue this once school starts, you and I will notbe walking down the halls, arm in arm."

Santana releases a breath she didn't know she was holding. It's a topic she was sure would be an obstacle, but apparently Rachel's given this a lot of thought. And if she can understand Santana's need to have Brittany around, then maybe this can work. Because that's always an issue with exclusivity; Brittany. Before, it didn't seem to matter as much. But the fact that Rachel took her blonde best friend into consideration makes Santana believe that this just might work.

Pulling Rachel on top of her, Santana kisses her long and hard until they're both breathless.

"Again?" Rachel asks. "Because I might need a slight rest."

"Not at the moment," Santana replies. "I was just thinking that this might be the beginning of a beautiful romance."

"Ahhh," Rachel murmurs against Santana lips.

They kiss again, slow and sweet, just enjoying the moment.

"Wait," Rachel says when they break apart. "Did you just paraphrase Casablanca?"